Comparing Things Fall Apart 'And William Butler Yeats' The Second Coming

     Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and The Second Coming by William Butler Yeats have been considered literary classics. Although there may be a gap between the times of publication, the themes and connotations are strikingly similar. In both works, there is a progression of chaos in time caused by change and eventually leads to an end.

In Things Fall Apart the Igbo society is dominated by gender roles. Husbands beat their wives just for bringing food a few minutes late. Women are completely discriminated against. In fact, it is an insult to call a man an agbala (a woman). To men, women exist in a world in which they are "to be seen not heard, coming and going, with mounds of foofoo, pots of water, market baskets, fetching kola, being scolded and beaten before they disappear behind the huts of their compound" (Mezu 2). However, the role of women is far more essential than the male villagers believe. Achebe repeatedly refers to the masculinity or femininity of a person. Though Achebe seems to believe that men seem to dominate relationships, in fact, there are many ways in

In Things Fall Apart Okonkwo and Mr. Keats when they try to teach free thinking. Nwoye and Keats students wanted to be their own man . They did not want to have to live up to the expectations of their fathers. Nwoye takes on the ways of Christianity in hope of a better life . The DPS wanting to be more creative and free thinking without restrictions. Okonkwo feels dishonored by Nwoye’s turn towards Christianity. Neil's father feels the same about his son wanting to be an artist not a Doctor. Nwoye’s move to Christianity shows the loss of Okonkwo’s power over his life as did the administration and parents in Dead Poet's Society . In The Second Coming the loss of control is symbolized by the line “the falcon does not hear the falconer ” . Where the falcon is the symbol of the lesser power and the falconer the symbol of the higher power just like the other two. The line says that after time passes and changes take place powers change . The last reflective idea between the poem, the movie and the book is the respect towards a superior force . The superior force is not always an object that one can feel or hold in his or her hand but it could be as simple as an idea. The superior force in The Second Coming was not the apocolypse but it was time. Time cannot be paused or turned back so whatever is done may never be changed . Which seems to apply in all three. Time does not allow the world to prepare for The Second Coming, So all hope is lost . The Superior force in Things Fall Apart is the spread of Christianity . Christianity creates Chaos in Umuofia . It makes all the people that were loyal to their ancestors forget about where they were from . The culture of the people in Umuofia was slowly put to extinction by the spread of Christianity. In Dead Poet's Society there is a stark contrast to the cyclical, “one size fits all” philosophy of life that

Going back to the novel, we see Okonwo, who is extremely shocked by the twists which take place in his tribe as a cultural revolution. He sees their ancient religion giving its place to Christianity, and their father’s culture and traditions, which his life was based on, fall apart. To make things even worse, his own son turns his back to him. Okonkwo can not stand this as a result he tries to fight against the people who were the creators of this disaster. But as he fails, he commits suicide, preferring to kill himself, rather than let those strangers kill him.

Chinua Achebe in his novel, Things Fall Apart, writes in a way that Erich Auerbach would describe as biblical style. Biblical style involves suspense, biblical allusions, the ambiguity of purpose, and gaps leading to interpretation. Achebe uses this biblical style to focus on the downfall of Okonkwo, the main character.

“Things fall apart; the center cannot hold” (“The Second Coming”). In the novel Things Fall Apart, the village’s belief system began to collapse. In “The Second Coming”, the narrator is witnessing an era coming to an end, and in “Ozymandias,” a statue of a tyrant falls apart, symbolizing the destruction of his legacy. There is a central theme shared amongst these three works. Things throughout history, good or bad, like religions, infamous leaders, or eras in history all inevitably come to an end.

The book “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe is a fictional look at the social and cultural life of an African tribe of the lower Niger River region. It depicts the every day life of the tribe and its members. It also shows the culture and customs of the tribe.

Who are you? Who am I? These are some of the questions we ask each other when identifying culture. In the novel, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, Okonkwo, the main protagonist faces many difficult changes in his ibo culture. Okonkwo is perceived as a strong, strict man who never likes to show emotion because he fears that it might make him seem weak. Throughout, the book it shows Okonkwo facing his fears and developing as a character. The cultural collision challenges Okonkwo’s identity, as a person because it identifies his persona and his beliefs, whereas if someone takes that from him, he fears his obligation in life will fall short once the white men take everything he worked hard to built.

This passage, found as a conclusion to a chapter in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, takes place after Okonkwo's return to Umuofia. A new English missionary has been set up in the village and has caused a great divide between the villagers. The main purpose of the section is to describe some of these events and changes that have taken place in Umuofia since Okonkwo's return. The passage is structured in three parts, each detailing about a different aspect. The first section focuses on Okonkwo's son Nwoye's conversion to Christianity and subsequent successes. The second part goes into detail about Okonkwo's arrival home to his clan and the change in the village. Finally, the last section includes Okonkwo's inner feelings and opinions

Whenever that would transpire, Okonkwo would strive to never let that same mistake occur two times in his lifetime. In the novel Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo’s relationship with particular characters are affected as he struggles to honor his people and their ways.

Okonkwo soon learns about this and confronts his son, Nwoye about his secret meetings, Okonkwo soon becomes enraged and disowns his son after hearing about his experience not before abusing him of course. This action causes an effect which ultimately leads to Okonkwo’s downfall. Okonkwo enraged by the spread of Christianity within his own village self-proclaims war on the “white man”. Okonkwo eventually was detained as a result of his actions towards the “white man”. After he was released from detainment Okonkwo killed a courier and began to truly understand he was a rebel without a cause as his fellow Tribesmen would not help him with his internal struggle. Okonkwo knowing, he would be caught and executed for his crimes, instead decided to ultimately end his own life by hanging himself. Okonkwo’s major downfall in the story was his inability to co-exist with the white man and began his own personal vendetta against the Christian missionaries. Throughout the story the main essential theme Achebe tried to relay to us would be the fact that even though individuals may be of different religions, skin color, and have different personalities there is a realization that

Upon an initial reading of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, it is easy to blame the demise of Okonkwo’s life and of the Umofia community on the imperialistic invasions of the white men. After all, Okonkwo seemed to be enjoying relative peace and happiness before then. He did have a few mishaps; one of them resulted in him being exiled for eight years. Nonetheless, he returned to his home town with high spirits and with prospects of increased success. However, everything has changed. The white men have brought with them a new religion and a new government. Okonkwo’s family falls apart. The men in his village lose their courage and valor; they do not offer any resistance to the white men. Consequently, Okonkwo kills

“Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe ha1st s multiple themes in its story. These themes change throughout the story and help the reader to fully understand the meaning of the book. The book itself shows the life of an African native named Okonkwo and his family. Okonkwo was by no means a laid back man. He spent all his life trying to not be like his dad, and that made him turn into a very dark person that affected him both mentally and physically. On multiple occasions Okonkwo is given advice from the many people that he meets throughout his lifetime. Most of the time he decides to ignore this advice and go out and do his own thing however he saw fit which eventually led to his downfall. If Okonkwo maybe were to have taken the advice that he was given then he probably would have survived longer than what he did. That is a theme right there; the theme is listening to others could have its rewards.

Things fall apart, this phrase being used in both the novel title Things Fall Apart and the poem written by Yeats, “The Second Coming” keeps us wondering how both are related. Achebe uses Yeats’ poem as an epigraph to foreshadow how the events in the novel later on might occur. Reading the epigraph, we come to understand that Yeats is referring to an image of disaster and to a society that is losing control. In Things Fall Apart, the community faces some changes that affect the lives of certain main characters and leads to a very severe disaster. Achebe uses a lot of imagery and dualism in his novel to portray certain messages to the readers and to clarify his point. Also, Achebe wanted to answer back any writer who criticized the Africans and insulted them. He wanted the voice of the Africans to be heard and to take a stand when the Christians came in and tried to change a lot in the traditions that were present. Both, the poem and the novel are related in a way that shows how the downfall of the main character, Okonkwo, happened and what lead to it. Both writers have many things in common in their writings that can be compared in a social and religious way. Achebe uses double meaning in order to pass on his messages to the readers.

Things Fall Apart is a novel written by Chinua Achebe a Nigerian novelist, poet professor and a critic born in Ogidi in 1930. Things Fall Apart was his first novel and won the Man Booker International Prize in 2007. Achebe’s novel is extremely popular in modern African Literature. Through illuminating author’s purpose, skillfully decided formal diction, and the substantial influence of secondary characters, Chinua Achebe has produced an award winning novel that enlightens the reader about authentic Nigerian history.